Chael Sonnen has not competed in UFC for 14 months, since his near-victory against Anderson Silva last August, but at UFC 136 it took him just 14 minutes to make his presence known as he made rising star Brian Stann tap out and then issued the challenge to end all challenges.
“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck,” Sonnen said during the post-fight interview. “Super Bowl, weekend, the biggest weekend but we’re upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I will leave the UFC forever.”
The only thing that Sonnen is known for more than his wrestling prowess inside the octagon is his ability to talk, and he did not disappoint in either area on Saturday night.
MMA purists hate professional wrestling style promos because they feel that it distracts from the sport, but if ever there was a money promo in this sport, this was it.
Fans and analysts were wondering what Sonnen had left after having so much time off. Not only did he make them look foolish, he set up arguably the biggest money fight in the history of the sport.
Sonnen and Silva are going to battle, and it sounds like it is going to happen in February, which is the best possible thing that could have happened to UFC.
Stann is a rising star and will have plenty of opportunities to fight for the middleweight championship, but the fight that the sport needed was Sonnen and Silva.
Of all the fights that UFC could possibly make, Sonnen and Silva will have the most mainstream anticipation because of the way their first bout went.
Sonnen is the only fighter in the last five years to give Silva a challenge. Add his ability to cut a promo on top of that, and you have the makings of a historic fight.
There are not a lot of true big money fights left that UFC can make, but the second bout between Sonnen and Silva is one of them.
And if you didn’t believe it before, you better after hearing Sonnen throw down the gauntlet.
